From Batting to Book Reviews – and everything in between

Redemption & Sergey Brin

I was an unwitting slave to quintuple masters. I did not even realise that I was being held to ransom. The web of deception weaved by them was so exquisite that I had no inkling that I was trapped for and in perpetuity. Selfies on Instagram trumped sense, while likes on Facebook were a laudanum delivered by the Gods to numb the sense of loss and a perception of inferiority. The impulsive and instinctive purchase on Amazon was a salve for the soul while a perennial loop of soothing melodies on i tunes acted as the hand that would never rock the cradle.

This Orwellian lifestyle threatened to consume me in its ravenous appetite before she finally arrived. The Goddess of liberation, the patron saint of love; the veritable epitome of passion and aesthetics. For a person who could not be swayed by anything other than the relentless pursuit of technology, I was pole axed by her presence. While selfies were consigned to the dustbins of memories past, likes were just adjectives in plural of no consequence. Bezos may as well find another customer while Tim Cook could kiss his ass goodbye! The searches of Sergey Bin and Larry Page that had spawned an era of surveillance capitalism now seemed an archaic invention.

Then, she decided to leave. Just when I thought I had attained deliverance I was once again hurled right into the middle of the wolves, to be mercilessly slaughtered. Bezos laughed; Brin hollered; Cook yelled. I succumbed.

Absolutely! In fact to gauge the extent of ‘damage’ I would sincerely recommend “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism : The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power” by Shoshana Zuboff. A riveting read.